The Angels' playoff hopes continued to dim on Monday night, as they dropped to five games out of the American League Wild Card race with a 4-2 series-opening loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Angels have slipped to the brink. After falling to the last-place White Sox, 4-2, in Monday's series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Angels dropped five games behind the Twins for the second American League Wild Card spot with six games left, putting them on the verge of elimination.

Luis Valbuena burned his former team by hitting a two-run, bases-loaded double in the seventh inning off reliever Chris Devenski to break a tie and send the Angels to a 7-5 win over the Astros in the regular season finale at Minute Maid Park on Sunday night.

Garrett Richards is the present and future of the Angels' rotation. So manager Mike Scioscia isn't going to go overboard at this point on the right-hander's innings, no matter how outstanding he's pitching.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia wouldn't say for certain that injured reliever Huston Street's season is officially done, but the news isn't encouraging on the right-hander, who has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a right groin injury. The reports are better on third baseman Yunel Escobar, who was placed on the DL on Aug. 8 and is expected to see live pitching next week.

Yuli Gurriel broke up a scoreless game with a three-run home run in the seventh inning, and Justin Verlander and two relievers combined on a shutout in the Astros' 3-0 win Friday night at Minute Maid Park, sending the Angels to their fifth straight loss and 3 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second American League Wild Card spot.

For the second consecutive day, Francisco Lindor helped sink the Angels with a tiebreaking home run, launching a three-run, go-ahead shot to complete the Indians' three-game sweep with a 4-1 victory in Thursday afternoon's series finale at Angel Stadium.

As the regular season continues to dwindle, the Angels' margin for error is becoming increasingly slim. Every mistake has the potential to dent their postseason hopes, as evidenced by Thursday afternoon's 4-1 loss to the Indians, which sealed their three-game sweep at Angel Stadium.

Yusmeiro Petit has been arguably the Angels' most reliable reliever all season, but the veteran right-hander suffered a rare misstep on Wednesday night, surrendering a tiebreaking home run to Francisco Lindor that helped propel the Indians to a 6-5 win at Angel Stadium.

Francisco Lindor crushed a two-run, tiebreaking home run off Yusmeiro Petit to help lift the Indians to a slim 6-5 win over the Angels on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, putting the Tribe within one game of the Dodgers for baseball's best record.

Martin Maldonado sat in front of his locker in the Angels' clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon and scrolled through his social-media feeds, his attention fixated on videos and photos of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Maria in his native Puerto Rico.

Mike Clevinger enjoyed some revenge against his former club on Tuesday night, tossing six innings of one-run ball to lead the Indians to a 6-3 win over the Angels in their series opener at Angel Stadium.

Defensive metrics don't love Mike Trout this year, but it may be in part because he's simply not getting the same tough opportunities as other players. Using Statcast, we can dig in deep to see what balls are being hit his way.

Justin Upton delivered precisely the type of offensive performance the Angels envisioned when they acquired him from the Tigers two weeks ago, homering twice in a 2-0 win over the Rangers on Saturday night at Angel Stadium.

Albert and Deidre Pujols have long established their reputations as two of the baseball community's most charitable citizens. Since 2005, they've run the Pujols Family Foundation, an organization that supports families of children with Down syndrome and impoverished people in the Dominican Republic.

Justin Upton homered twice to back a strong start from rookie Parker Bridwell as the Angels handed the Rangers their fifth straight loss and secured a series victory with a 2-0 win on Saturday night at Angel Stadium.

Angels right-hander Blake Parker has spent a decade in professional baseball as a reliever, but entering Friday, he had never been asked to convert a six-out save. That changed when he pitched the final two innings of the Angels' 7-6 victory over the Rangers at Angel Stadium.

C.J. Cron's two-run home run off rookie reliever Ricardo Rodriguez capped a five-run sixth inning and propelled the Angels to a 7-6 comeback win over the Rangers in Friday night's series opener at Angel Stadium.

Albert Pujols collected another milestone home run in the Angels' 5-2 loss the Astros on Thursday night, crushing his 613th career homer to pass Jim Thome and take sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list.

The Twins and Angels have shadowed one another for the past 35 days, each taking turns ahead of the other, neither opening up more than a two-game advantage. Isn't that the definition of a great playoff chase? At the moment, there's your race for the second American League Wild Card berth.